Goodbye, Columbus Journal Entry #3

Meaningful passage:
(page 134)
"I loved you, Brenda, so I cared."
I loved you. Thant's why I got the damn thing in the first place,"
And then we heard the tense in which we'd spoken and we settled back into ourselves and silence.

For the meaningful passage in this chapter, I chose the last interaction between Brenda and Neil. Neil has visited Brenda at college and Brenda has just shown him the letters from her family that talk about their awareness of their sexual relationship and how disappointed they are. This, understandably has lead to stress in their relationship, and Neil has started making accusations at Brenda, saying that she actually wanted to break up with him anyways. All in all, this ends up being too much strain on the relationship and they break up. The first significant piece of this passage is the verbiage being used is in past tense. In real time, as a reader, you are not aware that these two will break up and so the usage of 'loved' was, in my opinion, a good way to foreshadow events to come and bring out the emotions of the characters. Furthermore, I think this passage is significant because of how much Brenda has meant to Neil over the course of the book. Specifically during the time between summer break, and this point when Neil is seeing Brenda again, Neil goes through life seemingly without meaning. He has made everything in his life that matters Brenda and now, without her, the reader has to wonder what is going to happen to Neil. He does not seem to have any true motivation in his life, so it will be interesting to see what happens. Lastly, I find this passage meaningful for the sole purpose of it being a major point in the relationship most capture by the book up to this point.

Question One:
(page 133)
"Why does your father capitalize all these letters?"

This line is spoken by Neil to Brenda. Neil has just read a letter from Brenda's father saying Brenda's mother has found her contraceptive and is furious, but she as well as himself, both still love her. In the letter the reader can see that certain words are seemingly randomly capitalized and Neil is asking why this is, Brenda has no response. Maybe this was supposed to be inferred knowledge, but I have the same question. Why are the letters capitalized, is there supposed to be significance to it and why does Brenda not answer when Neil asks?

Question Two:
(page 128)
Your Father
And then it was signed Ben Patimkin, but that was crossed out and written beneath "Your Father" were again, like an echo, the words, "Your Father."

This passage is once again referring to the letter from Brenda's father about her mother finding her contraceptive. The first words of the passage, "Your Father," are concluding the letter and then the reader finds out that the letter is not quite done, as Mr. Patimkin is having trouble deciding how to end the letter. My question is why does he have trouble deciding this? When I first read it, I thought it might be his decision process of deciding to end the letter in a more formal manner due to how she has inappropriately acted or to end the letter in a less formal more loving, personal manner to give his daughter comfort/support, but I was not sure.

Goodbye, Columbus journal #2

Contrast

“I was always amazed at how Carlota’s work never seemed to get in the way of her life. She made household chores seem like illustrative gestures of whatever it was she was singing, even, if as now, it was “I Get a Kick out of You” (pg. 77).

This passage is read during Neil’s stay at the Patimkin’s house. Carlota is a servant of some type to the family and the passage depicts Neil’s thoughts on her. When I read this specific passage I thought there was a contrast to how his aunt Gladys conducts her household chores, which would be similar to those Carlota performs in the Patimkin household. Constantly, from both Neil’s thoughts on his aunt, such as hoping she has an empty fridge in death, and through the way aunt Gladys speaks and conducts herself, I was given the impression that she carries herself as almost a martyr; always complaining, but relishing the complaints in a way, wanting those around her to hear how she suffers. Carlota on the other hand, who performs assumedly similar tasks around the house, does so in a joyful manner. Finding ways to make her tasks more enjoyable, such as humming a tune to herself as seen above. I think that this clear contrast between how these two women carry themselves is why Neil expresses his surprise upon viewing Carlota.

Parallel

“Petulantly, Mrs. Patimkin went back to her lists, and I realized it had been foolish of me to risk lightheartedness with her about Jewish affairs” (pg. 87)

Once again, this passage is read during Neil’s stay at the Patimkin’s house. Most of the family is out and it is only Neil and Mrs. Patimkin and they have been engaging in short conversation. Before this exact passage, Neil has been commenting on how he thinks that Mrs. Patimkin is warming up to him and he is trying to continue that by making pleasant conversation until he pokes fun at ‘Jewish affairs’ and realizes that Mrs. Patimkin would not have found that amusing. With such clear socioeconomic differences between the Patimkin family and Neil’s family, I think that this passage highlights a parallel between the two families. At the core, the adults of the families, Mr. and Mrs. Patimkin and Neil’s aunt and uncle, have strong feelings towards their Jewish culture/religion, whereas the younger parties like Neil and Brenda have less care about such things. I think that it is interesting that with such different families there is still this common thread and would expect that this would have been extremely common in most families.

Journal Entry One: Class Consciousness

Page 26:

“From the way Julie and Mr. Patimkin were laughing now, out on the court, no problem could ever have seemed less universal; but, of course, it was universal for Brenda, a battle with her mother, and her life, which, I was certain, consisted to a large part of cornering the market on fabrics that felt soft to the skin, took on the quality of a Hundred Years’ War…”

At this point in the book Brenda and Neil are sitting beneath a tree in the backyard observing Brenda’s father and sister play basketball as Brenda describes her relationship with her parents to Neil. This passage expounds on Neil’s thoughts on Brenda’s overarching conclusion with regards to her parents and life. Here, a clear division in socioeconomic class between Brenda and Neil is present, brought to the reader by the judgment passed by Neil. In his mind, and to this point seemingly correctly so, Brenda has the air of an arrogant, aloof, spoiled girl who’s biggest problems in life are issues that are not only insignificant, but unobtainable for individuals in a lower bracket of wealth. In this specific instance, clothing is the subject of his ire, clothes that he not only cares nothing for, but also could not afford. Going along with this, Neil seems to see the divide this superficial issue causes between Brenda and her mother, a divide that Brenda claims is ‘universally’ understood, as a pointless divide and one that only certain type of rich, snob would conjure up in their mind. This issue continues in the chapter as Neil begins to consciously keep his mouth shut on the topic of wealth and they way Brenda thinks of herself, hoping to not cause a divide between them.

Double Indemnity & L.A. Confidential Picture Analysis

Jack Vincennes in Captain Dudley Smith's house questioning him 

about Rollo Tomasi in L.A. Confidential.  

Walter Neff gives a hand to Barton Keys as he tries to puzzle out who
killed Mr. Dietrichson in Double Indemnity.

In two iconic Noir films, Double Indemnity and L.A. Confidential, masterful film work able to singularly express the power behind characters can be found. In this blog, two examples of the aforementioned scenes can be viewed and enjoyed in all their glory. In the first picture, Walter Neff is seen offering a lit match to his boss, Barton Keys, to light his cigar. A common gesture throughout the movie, this instance is significant because of the circumstances behind the scene, and the power struggle is shown in the way the camera was worked. Unknown to Barton Keys, Walter Neff has committed murder and tax fraud, killing the husband of his new love, Phyllis Dietrichson and is now hoping to collect the money and get away with Phyllis. Barton Keys is in charge of identifying and charging tax fraud and is currently in the process of determining what has happened. At this point, Walter Neff is in control, with no signs pointing to his guilt, he is seen relaxed. However at the same time, the camera is angled up from an area below the actors with Barton Keys sitting down and Walter Neff standing. With the initial height difference and the addition of the camera angle, Walter Neff appears to tower over his boss, making Barton Keys all but insignificant. From the camera angle and set up of the frame alone, his current power over the situation is clear even though this power struggle is unknown to Barton Keys at this time. Similarly, in the clip from L.A. Confidential, Jack Vincennes is seen sitting down with the camera behind him angled up at his boss, Dudley Smith. Once again, there is a power struggle shown in the picture, created by the set up of the scene and the camera angle. In the case of the scene from L.A. Confidential, Jack Vincennes is following up on a murder case he believes in unsolved. Coming upon a key piece of information, he brings the news to his boss, Dudley Smith, in hope of uncovering more facts. However, it turns out that Dudley Smith is in fact behind the incorrectly solved murder, and the information revealed by Jack Vincennes ultimately leads to Dudley Smith murdering Jack Vincennes as well. Very similarly paralleled to the picture from Double Indemnity, the man sitting down, or the man lacking power in the current situation, is not yet aware of any power struggle. Ignorant to the involvement of the other men in the picture, Jack Vincennes and Barton Keys are both relaxed in the picture, but from the figures seemingly towering over them, it becomes clear to the viewer that there is a power dynamic in play. The man standing, towering above, is in control and is more aware of the situation brought to them than is known by the characters. These two pictures are examples of a film makers successful attempt to show this power dynamic and the underlying intricacies without blatantly stating them in the movie, and in both cases, this is done very well.

Noir Poem

Beard shaved, red hot poker

between legs. Sitting

confidence, man hang up

hat, slapping glass mug.

Boy’s sweat exploding,

watching blood.

Confidence brimming, man

watch boy jitters in wet night.

Teeth curled, darknes swelling straight,

man’s pocket handkerchief fanning the

darkness. Gun from icebox, kerosene

pool under legs.  Killer

merchandise, watch accident murder.

Cemetry will file rotten grave tonight.

Coroner flame,

Hot, keep connections sour.

Bang.

Gunshot claim victim.

Flame the apartment.

Boy crooked smile, walk into darkness.

Recent movies seen

L.A. Confidential
Bourn Ultimatum
Blood Diamond
Slumdog Millionaire